BEIJING - Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month's Beijing Olympic Games.

The Xinhua News Agency reports dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants.

Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs.

Dog, known in Chinese as "xiangrou," or "fragrant meat," is eaten by some Chinese for its purported healthy qualities.

Beijing isn't the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish.

South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of "foods deemed unsightly."